Mike says: “I’ve always been a Tommy Castro fan. Not only does he write great songs, he reworks blues classics to fit his style…the way the Rolling Stones took Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf songs in the 60s and made them their own. I met Tommy at the last B.R. Cohn Concerts in 2015. Then my wife and I happened to be on Maui last March was Tommy was playing Willie K.’s Blues Festival. We had dinner with Tommy’s keyboard player, Mike Emerson, who invited us to see the band when we got back to California. the next week they were playing Rancho Nicasio, and we hung out with Tommy after the show.”
“We talked about how we both played San Francisco’s North Beach clubs many years ago, and how much we love that part of the city. I mentioned that I’d love to sit in on drums for a song, if he was open to it. Earlier this month, Tommy was playing the Cloverdale Friday Night concerts, and he invited me to get up and play with him! Jane happened to capture the performance on her phone:
“It was definitely one I checked off of my bucket list!”
Speaking of North Beach–here’s Mike favorite Tommy Castro song and video! The shimmering guitar chords, haunting keyboards, and true-to-life lyrics perfectly reflect the feel of North Beach.
